Student Movie - "The Infection"

5th graders ended the year with the difficult task of collaborating to plan, screen write, film, and direct their own movie using a green screen. Check out the exciting movie, The Infection

Last day of 3rd Grade GT

Wow! It has been an awesome year! We enjoyed spending time together on our last day of 3rd grade GT! Check out our busy day.

If only I could see that movie!

Today, 3rd grade students chose their favorite Greek Myth and imagined what it would be like if it were a real movie. They then decided what the best parts of the movie would be in order to create a "movie trailer" using iMovie. I know I wish they were real movies! Check them out!

Instant Challenge

4th and 5th students attempted a balance of power instant challenge this week. The task: Build a structure that only touches the "ground" on the red square, but can suspend pennies over purple squares. Check out the problem solving and solutions from both classes.

Tunnels and Dams

Students explored the engineering feats of tunnels and dams today and had a chance to create models and face some life-like challenges. Check out their progress in the video!

WeDo Giants

Did you know that even before electricity was invented, people were imagining "robots"? Stories in Greek mythology refer to a giant Metal monster named Talos who protected the island of Crete. Today third graders designed their own giant and programmed it to scare away possible attackers. Some students even had a chance to add motion sensors. Check out their work - if you dare.

Dome Day!

Fourth graders continued their exploration of architecture and engineering today as we examined and built domes. Ever wonder how strong an egg is? You might be surprised at how the shape strengthens the brittle shell. Check out the busy, teamwork-filled day by watching the video.

Building Bridges!

Students enjoyed a day of bridge building! Check out the video of our hands-on day!

Courtroom Cartoons

Students created some real courtroom dramas cartoons today. Using ipad and a fun app called Toontastic, students embedded multiple vocabulary words into the scripts. They used humor and creativity! Check out the creative cartoons!

Vibrobots!

Fourth graders really had an "educationally amusing" challenge! We definitely had to have a growth mindset by figuring out what wouldn't work in order to get things to work! After all, we are hear to learn from our attempts! Students engineered robots out of some basic materials. The question this science experiment asked was "How does changing the counterweight on the motor effect the performance of the robot?" Most predicted a balanced weight (3 cm) would create the best performance (art). Watch the robot performances as they create art with the counterbalance at 1 cm, 3 cm, and 5.5 cm.

On Trial

The class transformed into a courtroom today for some scripted trials. Check out these crazy court cases! (More to come soon)

Chess "Simul"

Today Mr. Arney challenged our 5th graders to a game of chess! Yes, ALL of them - at the same time! In a format called a "simul" Mr. Arney walked around the room making his moves on 14 boards. Students planned their next move while he moved around the room. What a fun event! The kids learned a lot and enjoyed the challenge.

The OREO Caper

Wow! Today 3rd graders got a chance to put their sleuth skills to the test in order to solve this real-life mystery! Someone stole our OREOs! Check out their adventure!

Valentiny Express

3rd graders have a design challenge for to prepare for the busy Valentine season! They need to design a balloon-powered vehicle that can carry candy hearts quickly to their destination. Check out the pictures and videos of them working together to problem-solve.They are ready to design and re-design to make this work! Way to have a growth-mindset!

Skyscraper Explorations!

To start off our unit, we explored skyscrapers! Students figured out what it would take to have strength and stability. Then that was put to the test as "hurricane winds" approached the towers. Check out a bit of this awesome day in the following video.

3rd Grade Lego Construction Stop Motion

Third graders were introduced to the art of animation by using stop motion techniques to build and unbuild an object based on a class selected theme. Our theme was ANIMALS. Check out our animated movie.

Fred's Stop Motion Movie

Fourth graders had an opportunity to help our gummy friend, Fred again. Only this time, they invented the "problem". Students were to write stories with a clear plot and no dialogue. The had to develop characters, decide on materials, and were involved in set-design. Then they produced Stop Motion videos where a problem Fred has is solved. We then "App-Smashed" the videos by pulling the product from one app into another app in order to enhance it with titles and background music. Click HERE to check out these creative short stories.

Elves for a Day

Fourth Graders were elves for a day. Their task: to design a new toy that met some pretty specific requests: make noise, be colorful, have moving parts, and have a ball.

Holiday Party Fun

During our holiday party, students enjoyed their candy and a crazy game of reverse charades, where the team acts and 1 or 2 students guess. Super Fun!!

Fred's Swimming Lessons

Fred wants to be ready if there is ever another emergency. His next adventure. . . Swimming Lessons! Watch our class as we use the scientific method and data to draw conclusions and make decisions. Should Fred take lessons in freshwater or the ocean?